A federal judge will make a decision Friday concerning a preliminary injunction on the continuing construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline after a lawsuit was brought against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers back in August. The Standing Rock Sioux tribe claims that the path of the pipeline threatens places and areas that are considered sacred.
Moroni Benally, a Navajo Nation member who is organizing a protest of solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux for Saturday, said that defining places as sacred is at the core of the fight against the pipeline.
“This is where the epistemic tension and the tension that are really at the heart of this is this fight over what is sacred and what isn’t. The simplest example that I’ve seen people use is Arlington Cemetery,” Benally said. “The same reaction if a bulldozer were to go through the Arlington Cemetery. It’s a provocative move and it would provoke a lot of anger and disappointment and anguish if that happened. That’s the exact same feeling that the Standing Rock tribe and many indigenous nations and communities are experiencing.”
On Tuesday, another federal court ruling temporarily halted construction on some areas of the pipeline while awaiting a further decision. Moroni said he hopes he can help put the spotlight on the ways in which tribes are disregarded in development projects.
“Often times, tribes are not considered in the construction or development of a lot of things. And so tribes kind of remain in the background. Something as simple as a bureaucratic permit has rendered the Standing Rock tribe invisible,” he said. “If this event of solidarity can shed light on just how some simple form might erase an entire people and their way of life, I think that’s a major win in terms of recognition of sovereignty.”
The protest will be held at Washington Square in Salt Lake City.
